[Harvest of the superficial temporal artery using the Lone Star Retractor System TM: technical note]

Extracranial-intracranial(EC-IC)bypass is an important method of treating ischemic stroke and intracranial disease requiring sacrifice of the parent artery. The most commonly used donor artery for EC-IC bypass surgery is the superficial temporal artery(STA). But there are few reports of details of harvest methods of the STA. We describe our harvest methods of the STA using the Lone Star Retractor System^TM. After draping, the Lone Star Retractor System^TM is placed on the head. Skin incision is on the parietal branch of the STA. Under the surgical microscope, the dermis is cut by a scalpel from the distal side of the STA. The incised wound was tensioned by the blunt hooks(elastic stay)of the Lone Star Retractor System^TM. Connective tissue around the STA was dissected and cut by a high voltage bipolar coagulator from the distal to the proximal side of the STA. The advantage of using of The Lone Star Retractor System^TM for the STA harvest is that, using a surgical microscope, it is easy to set the elastic stay on the wound.